My thoughts on Jay Rosen's Audience Atomization Overcome: Why the Internet Weakens the Authority of the Press

Jay Rosen believes that the internet is helping us defeat atomization in the mainstream media. This means that before the internet, we weren't able to connect with others to share information. We had to rely, almost completely, on the media for our news. This meant that anything beyond the press' idea of legitimate debate was essentially off limits to the average citizen. Now that a lot of people get their news from the internet, the media no longer defines what is legitimate news and what is not. Jay Rosen gives us a diagram to help us better understand the practice of journalism in the United States. First, there is the "sphere of concensus", which consists of ideas and things that the media believes everyone should agree on. In other words they are defining truth for us. Can everyone around the world completely agree on anything? If we did planet Earth would be a dreadfully dull place. Second, is the "sphere of legitimate debate", which is what the mainstream media decides is okay for us to discuss. I don't know about you, but I don't want anyone deciding for me what is okay for me to talk about and what is not. Lastly, there is the "sphere of deviance". This is information that the media classifies as radical or unacceptable. This really struck me, because as I read about the "sphere of deviance" I realized I had known about this concept for a long time. I'd just never been able to put this concept into words eloquently. Thank you Jay Rosen, for giving it a name. Considering the fact that five corporations own 86 percent of the world's media, you can imagine the stranglehold they have on how we think of politics. We have got to do something about these mega-corporations who are buying up everything imaginable, so that they can control every aspect of our lives! Thank god for the internet. I can hop online in a flash, and find anything I want within or outside of the "sphere of legitimate debate". This allows people to decide for themselves what is true and what is not, instead of letting the media tell them what to believe. I think Jay Rosen is primarily writing to inform students of journalism how they enforce the "sphere of concensus" without even realizing it. They also define what is within the "sphere of deviance". Journalists are supposed to remain objective about the news, and most believe that they are. This is clearly impossible because we are all biased in some way or another. Any journalist who refutes this is lying. I think that acknowledging this is the only way journalists can start to become more objective, and stop the media from controlling what is okay for us to talk about and what isn't. The mainstream media controls journalism by punishing those who speak outside the sphere of legitimate debate.
They may try to shut up journalists who choose speak outside this sphere, but the web makes it difficult to silence them completely. The media tries to keep us from forming our own opinions by giving us limited information and hoping that we won't look too far outside the sphere of legitimate debate. There may never be an end to the control the mainstream media exerts upon us, and information itself; but we should all do ourselves a favor, and decide for ourselves what is legitimate to debate.